SC Notice To WhatsApp, Facebook Seeking Their Response On Privacy Of Data

Notices have also been issued to TRAI.

NEW DELHI -- The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Centre, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and social media platform Facebook over a plea seeking privacy on data.

Seeking a reply in two weeks, the apex court asked the government, Facebook and Whatsapp to respond to the plea for privacy policy for social media networks.

"WhatsApp is a free facility, don't use it if concerned about privacy," the apex court observed.

The petitioner told the Supreme Court that WhatsApp has become a utility service and user data needs to be safeguarded.

A petition filed before the Supreme Court has claimed that there is no protection of data on Facebook and WhatsApp.

According to the petitioner, there are 157 million users on WhatsApp and Facebook, therefore the service provided by the social network and messaging app should be considered as a public utility service.

In September 2016, the Delhi High Court had ordered WhatsApp to delete the data of users who had deleted the messaging app from their devices. Additionally, not share these users' data with Facebook.

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